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AUTHORITARIANISM Coronavirus EDITORIAL

Genocide.

It will be assumed by many outside that to describe Brazil’s pandemic as genocide is an exaggeration. Unfortunately it isn’t. From suppressing vaccines to refusing Brazilian states and municipalities the right to implement lockdown measures, it is wrong for international media to report Bolsonaro’s Covid-19 catastrophe as mismanagement, incompetence, or “failure to act”, when it […]

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COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS EDITORIAL ENVIRONMENT UNITED STATES

Chevron, ExxonMobil and BlackRock Want To Teach The Left About “Extractivism” In Latin America

A week after charges against former president Lula were annulled, invigorating the Brazilian left to unite and challenge neofascist Jair Bolsonaro, US magazine Americas Quarterly responded with the kind of cynical propaganda we should always expect from it. Having enthusiastically supported the lawfare campaign against him, the AQ piece was an attack on Lula and the […]

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AUTHORITARIANISM CITIES DEMOCRACY SOCIAL INCLUSION

Free Private Cities: Brazil’s New Libertarian Dystopia

An international Libertarian organisation is behind proposals to privatise Brazilian cities, creating vast luxury condominiums for the most wealthy, and removing democratic rights from their citizens. Brazil’s federal government has been quietly exploring a grand libertarian experiment. Proposals have been put forward for the creation of privatised charter cities, special economic zones inspired by Honduras, Hong […]

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64-85 DICTATORSHIP ARMED FORCES AUTHORITARIANISM DEMOCRACY EDITORIAL FASCISM LAVA JATO LAWFARE UNITED STATES

No Tanks On The Streets: Brazilian General Villas Bôas Admits Military Behind Coup

Military string pulling in Brazil’s “long coup” which returned them to government becomes clearer with confessions from the now terminally ill former head of the armed forces who oversaw it. Through an exhaustive series of interviews, adding up to thirteen hours in total, General Villas Bôas revealed a rekindled desire to remove the left from […]

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AUTHORITARIANISM ECONOMY POLITICS SOCIAL INCLUSION

Bolsonaro’s Neoliberal Disaster: An Interview With Esther Dweck

“The Bolsonaro government’s social and economic policies will have a huge negative impact on Brazil’s future. We are actually already seeing this, based on what’s happening right now.” With Brazil’s far right President Jair Bolsonaro transformed in the international media into a kind of cartoonish super-villain, it is easy to focus on him as an […]

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CENSORSHIP

BTG-Pactual bank acquires another public database (Censored)

The Brazilian Ministry of Economy pushes a discount buyers club on government workers In an unconstitutional act of censorship, on August 28th a Rio de Janeiro court ordered the independent Brazilian news portal, GGN, to pull down 11 articles about the relationship between right wing politicians and big data mining operations. The ruling was made […]

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CENSORSHIP MEDIA SÃO PAULO

The Silence Of The Media (Censored)

On August 28th, answering a complaint from BTG-Pactual, the financial services corporation founded by Jair Bolsonaro’s Finance Minister Paulo Guedes, the independent media site GGN was ordered to pull down 11 investigative stories about the connection between right wing politicians and big data mining operations. In solidarity with GGN, it’s editor, Luis Nassif, and journalist Patricia […]

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COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS DEMOCRACY POLITICS SOVEREIGNTY THINK TANKS UNITED STATES

RenovaBR: The Privatisation of Brazilian Politics

Launched in October 2017, “leadership training and civic engagement initiative” RenovaBR claims to be a response to endemic corruption in politics. Through the “selection and preparation of future leaders”, the neoliberal organisation, backed by a familiar alliance of Wall Street lobbies and Brazilian business elites, seeks to dominate Brazilian political decision making using candidates spread across […]

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AUTHORITARIANISM CENSORSHIP

Censorship: Rio Court Attacks Freedom of the Press

A Rio de Janeiro Judge censors 11 investigative stories about corporate data mining by veteran journalist Luis Nassif. It’s not the first time conservatives have tried to silence him by Brian Mier On August 29, 2020 a Rio de Janeiro state judge issued an order to veteran journalist Luis Nassif to pull down 11 investigative […]

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AMAZON COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS ENVIRONMENT SOVEREIGNTY UNITED STATES

“We want to exploit the Amazon’s resources with the US” – Bolsonaro to Al Gore

At the World Economic Forum in January 2019, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said, in an informal conversation with former US vice president Al Gore, that he wants to exploit the riches of the Amazon in partnership with the United States. In new documentary ‘The Forum’, Brazil’s far-right president is caught in candid conversation with former […]